Assessing land use/cover changes: a nationwide multidate spatial database for Mexico

A nationwide multidate GIS database was generated in order to carry out the quantification and spatial characterization of land use/cover changes (LUCC) in Mexico. Existing cartography on land use/cover at a 1:250,000 scale was revised to select compatible inputs regarding the scale, the classificat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of applied earth observation and geoinformation 2004-10, Vol.5 (4), p.249-261
Main Authors: Mas, Jean-François, Velázquez, Alejandro, Díaz-Gallegos, José Reyes, Mayorga-Saucedo, Rafael, Alcántara, Camilo, Bocco, Gerardo, Castro, Rutilio, Fernández, Tania, Pérez-Vega, Azucena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accuracy
Applied geophysics
Deforestation
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Exact sciences and technology
GIS
Internal geophysics
Land use/cover change
Mapping
Mexico
Pollution, environment geology
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Summary:A nationwide multidate GIS database was generated in order to carry out the quantification and spatial characterization of land use/cover changes (LUCC) in Mexico. Existing cartography on land use/cover at a 1:250,000 scale was revised to select compatible inputs regarding the scale, the classification scheme and the mapping method. Digital maps from three different dates (the late 1970s, 1993 and 2000) were revised, evaluated, corrected and integrated into a GIS database. In order to improve the reliability of the database, an attempt was made to assess the accuracy of the digitalisation procedure and to detect and correct unlikely changes due to thematic errors in the maps. Digital maps were overlaid in order to generate LUCC maps, transition matrices and to calculate rates of conversion. Based upon this database, rates of deforestation between 1976 and 2000 were evaluated as 0.25 and 0.76% per year for temperate and tropical forests, respectively.
ISSN:1569-8432
1872-826X
DOI:10.1016/j.jag.2004.06.002